UMD's Hanna Inducted into NSIC Hall of Fame

By
KBJR News 1

July 9, 2014Updated Jul 9, 2014 at 8:38 PM CST

St. Cloud, MN (NNCNOW.com) --- A longtime member of the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) athletics department, John "Honeybear" Hanna, was inducted into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame on Wednesday in St. Cloud, Minn.

Hanna is one of eight to be enshrined this year after spending more than four decades with the schools. He made his greatest mark as a baseball coach, but also was a football assistant coach and equipment manager.

A day before the induction ceremony, Hanna gave the credit to nearly everyone but himself.

"I had great players," Hanna said. "When a coach is surrounded by great players, they make you look pretty good. We had some pretty good ballplayers here. I was fortunate enough to work with Jim Malosky all those years. He did such a great job, all those championships and Bob Nielson."

"Being part of those two national championships was kind of the highlight of my career. It's been a great run, and I've had a lot of help along the way."